Irad Ortiz

With Saratoga, Del Mar and a number of other tracks effectively eliminating jockeys from coming and going due to fears they will spread the coronavirus, attention now turns to Churchill Downs and the GI Kentucky Derby. Churchill Downs President Kevin Flannery and his team are no doubt mulling whether or not they will put similar restrictions in place, effectively allowing only Kentucky-based riders to compete during the five days of racing. It's not exactly an easy call, but their number one priority has to be safety. And that means following...

Leading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr., returns to racing at Gulfstream Saturday for the first time since Mar. 19. The two-time Eclipse winner, who stopped riding due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has mounts in nine of 12 races Saturday, including favored Dr Post (Quality Road) in the Unbridled S. He is also named in seven of 11 races in Hallandale Sunday. "I'm very excited to be back riding," Ortiz said. "Thank God, I have the help from all the owners and trainers. A lot of people support me here, so I...

The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia has rejected the appeals brought by jockey Mike Smith against the severity and length of suspensions handed down by stewards for a pair of infractions on the Saudi Cup program Feb. 29. The Technical Committee of the JCSA did agree to allow the local authority of the appellant to determine the dates of the suspension. Smith received two suspensions totaling 11 race days on the Saudi Cup program Feb. 29. He was handed a two-day ban for failing to weigh in following a fifth-place...

Todd Pletcher, who had a string of 15 straight titles ended last year, returned to the top of the Gulfstream Park trainer's standings when the Championship Meet concluded in Hallandale Sunday. Pletcher finished with a seven-win cushion over Mike Maker, 48-41. "We had a good run, missed it last year, but happy to get it back this year. I'm proud of the whole team. They did a great job," Pletcher said. "We were able to have a lot of maiden winners so, hopefully, we can continue to develop some of...

It looked for much of the stretch run of the six-furlong Saudia Sprint Cup as if it would be a double for Speightstown and Japan as Matera Sky stole a big lead after setting the pace, but as that one got extremely leg weary in the final furlong it was the charging New York Central (Tapit) who capitalized, nailing him in the shadow of the wire to win by a head as another runner formerly based in America, Gladiator King (Curlin), made up ground to be third. New York Central...

Having been nursed back to health over much of calendar year 2018 after being treated for a potentially career-ending case of stringhalt, Bricks and Mortar was an unstoppable force last year and became the first Horse of the Year for trainer Chad Brown Thursday evening. He was also a unanimous winner of the Eclipse Award for older turf male, the third in five years for a Brown trainee (Big Blue Kitten, 2015; Flintshire {GB}, 2016). Underfoot conditions were of no concern to the $200,000 Keeneland September graduate last season, as...